2024

Sociology of Education and Training

Name: Sociology of Education and Training
Code: SOC14723M
6 ECTS
Duration: 15 weeks/156 hours
Scientific Area: Sociology

Teaching languages: Portuguese
Languages of tutoring support: Portuguese
Regime de Frequência: Presencial

Sustainable Development Goals

Learning Goals

Students must be able to…:
1. Know the main theoretical approaches of the sociology of education;
2. Analyze the role of education and training in social control and change;
3. Discuss the sociogeny of educational and training inequalities and their social effects;
4. Characterize the student's “job” and discuss the teaching profession;
5. Know the main concepts of curriculum sociology;
6. To problematize the evaluation of schools as accountability processes;
7. Characterize the social factors that explain school failure and school dropout;
8. Debate forms of violence in educational and training contexts;
9. Analyze educational and training organizations as concrete action systems;
10. Assess the nature of school-family-community relationships;
11. Critically discuss the “unschooling theses”;
12. Discuss educational and training challenges

Contents

1. The Sociology of Education (object, methods, paradigms and main sociological theories);
2. Education, social control and social change;
3. Education, inequalities and social stratification;
4. The student's “work” and the teaching profession (from the social mandate to the construction of one's professional identity);
5. The curriculum from the perspective of sociology;
6. The evaluation of educational and training organizations from the perspective of sociology;
7. School failure and dropout from a sociological perspective;
8. Violence in educational and training institutions;
9. Educational organizations as social systems of concrete action;
10. School-family-community relationships;
11. The «crisis» of school education (theses of unschooling and respective criticisms);
12. Challenges of education and training.

Teaching Methods

The teaching-learning process will be organized in collective theoretical-practical sessions. Emphasis will be placed on the integration of teaching and research through the use of: a) case studies that provide concrete examples of sociological issues related to the teaching profession; b) student involvement in data collection and analysis; c) discussion of empirical studies conducted by the instructor and/or published in the field; d) open classes with education/training professionals and researchers who can provide practical insights to students and apply sociology in real contexts; e) observation of social dynamics in educational settings; f) discussions on the application of sociological theories to real educational contexts. Students will also engage in independent work (individual or group). The Moodle platform and digital technologies will be used to communicate and share educational resources. Support will be provided to students as needed, both in-person and remotely.

Assessment

Student can choose 1 of 2 assessment modalities;
1st: Continuous Assessment: A written test (PE) on the contents (weight 60%) and a written work (TR) (weight 40%). In this case: CF (100%) = (PE*60%)+(TR*40%).
2nd: Mixed Assessment: A written test (regular, resource or special season) - 80% of the final classification) + written work (20% weight). In this case: CF (100%) = (PE*80%)+(TR*20%).
Comments:
- The tests must have a classification equal to or greater than 9 values.
- The final classification is measured by the assessment of the socio-affective profile of the student and the presence and participation in classes, the teacher being able to maintain, raise or lower the average of the final classification in a range of -1 to +1 values.
- Workers with the status of student worker or equivalent are not exempt from carrying out the work
- The work is presented orally in one of the collective sessions. The written and oral components have weights of 60% and 40%, respectively

Teaching Staff